''American Nights'' is the seventh studio album by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Plain White T's
Plain White T's are an American Rock music, rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground music, ...
. It was released by
Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records is an American independent record label founded in 1982 by Jon Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula to release the first works of Metallica, and devoted primarily to hard rock and heavy metal. It has offices in New York City (w ...
on March 31, 2015.
Background
''American Nights'' was originally scheduled for a 2014 release by
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...
. During production, however, the band had creative disagreements with the label's executives, which led Hollywood to delay the album's release. Lead vocalist Tom Higgenson said of the conflict, "They were pushing for songs that the band wasn't 100 percent on. It was kind of like, 'You don't want us to record this song that everybody loves, but you want us to do this one that one of the five guys don't like at all?' It was a really annoying process."
After the album was completed, the band decided to leave Hollywood Records altogether and recut the album according to their vision.
Critical reception
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
noted how the band took stabs at replicating
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson, ...
("Heavy Rotation") and
Mumford & Sons
Mumford & Sons is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band currently consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, key ...
("Dance Off Time") throughout the album while also "alternating between giddy, gilded AAA pop ("American Nights," "Never Working") and fleet-footed acoustic ditties ("Time to Move On"). He concluded that, "As befitting their plain-Jane name, there's nothing particularly flashy about the pop of Plain White T's, but on ''American Nights'' they construct it and execute it as well as they ever have."
Andja Curcic of ''Renowned for Sound'' felt the record was at odds with itself over its track listing, praising the title track, "Pause" and "Never Working" for their pop-rock/pop-punk elements but found the folk aesthetics of "Dance Off Time" and "Here Comes That Sunrise" oft-putting, saying that "In the end, the tracks don’t fit together and you wonder what the Plain White T’s are trying to achieve." She concluded that, "Though there are decent tracks on the album, I felt quite disappointed because nothing felt as honest and emotional as "
Hey There Delilah
"Hey There Delilah" is a song by American pop rock band Plain White T's. It was released on May 9, 2006 as an EP from their third studio album, ''All That We Needed'' (2005). The song was later released in 2007 as a single from their fourth studi ...
". The Plain White T’s are really good at pop-rock ballads and I think that is where they should stay."
Track listing
References
{{Authority control
2015 albums
Plain White T's albums
Megaforce Records albums